In a curveball clinic between 2017’s SEC Pitcher of the Year and arguably the hottest ace in the country, No. 8 Kentucky’s Sean Hjelle, the former, emerged victorious in a 5-4 series-opening thriller over No. 6 Auburn Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The Tigers’ Casey Mize tossed seven innings of work, allowing two runs off five hits. Mize rifled 12 strikeouts, falling one K short of his career-high of 13, which he provided in each of his previous two starts prior to the showdown in Lexington.
The junior from Springville, Alabama has struck out 38 straight without a walk in his last three starts.
“Obviously you want to win every game, but I thought Casey Mize was tremendous and we competed our hearts out,” Auburn head coach Butch Thompson said. “We just didn’t make a couple plays down the stretch. They hit a big home run and that was the difference in the ballgame.”
In its first SEC away series of 2018, Auburn (19-4, 2-2 SEC) held a two-run lead in the seventh. Brett Wright kicked things off with a solo shot to tie, then a pair of wild pitches gifted the Tigers the advantage.
Kentucky would respond in electrifying fashion: three runs in the bottom of the ninth. The Cats’ Luke Heyer launched a two-run homer to right to tie, followed by a Ryan Johnson single, putting the game-winning run on base.
The Wildcats (16-6, 1-3 SEC) made good of their final opportunity, converting the winning run thanks to a wild pitch, scoring pinch runner Zeke Lewis. The loss was suffered by reliever Calvin Coker, his first of the year (3-1).
Will Holland, Wright, Jay Estes and Luke Jarvis turned in eight of Auburn’s nine hits. Wright’s seventh-inning homer is his sixth of the season, good for first on the team.
Game 2 of the series, scheduled for Saturday, has been cancelled. The teams will close out the series Sunday.
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